You may not know who Christian Allen is but you’ve probably played one of his games. The developer’s resume is dotted with impressive projects and milestones. Ever play a Ghost Recon title? He’s worked on most of them, starting off… Continue Reading →

You may not know who Christian Allen is but you’ve probably played one of his games. The developer’s resume is dotted with impressive projects and milestones. Ever play a Ghost Recon title? He’s worked on most of them, starting off with Ghost Recon: Island Thunder and climbing the ranks to become creative director of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2. From there, he took on one of the biggest projects in gaming as lead designer onHalo: Reach before joing Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for a few years.

But now, the veteran developer is in unfamiliar territory. He started a small studio of about 10 full-time members and six contractors (some of them from SOCOM-maker Zipper Interactive) and he’s gone the indie route. His team known as Serellan is working on a shoooter called Takedown: Red Sabre.

A PURE TACTICAL SHOOTER: The project, which began its life on Kickstarter, is close to its September release and I had a chance to check it out recently in San Francisco. The game is basically “super hard-core Counter-Strike.” It’s laser-focused on close-quarters combat and pits up to six-players in co-operative play against AI or it lets them shoot it out in deathmatch and team deathmatch. There is no leveling system, unlockable weapons or tropes found in modern-day shooters like Call of Duty.

It’s a throwback, where each player gets one life and if they’re killed, that’s it until the end of the match. That means staying alive and team play is vital. Players can’t go in like Rambo and expect to win. They’ll be shot dead in five minutes. The gameplay is fast but cautious and requires constant communication among squad members.

Allen says it’s supposed to be realistic and players need to emulate the tactics that real SWAT teams use. If players shoot an enemy down, there’s no confirmation. They have to verify the kill themselves. Players have to keep in mind the objects they hide behind because a rival with armor piercing bullets can fire through it. The enemy AI is smart and uses squad-based tactics. They’re also sharp shooters.

AN ATTENTION TO DETAIL: When it comes to the technical aspects, players will have several things to consider such as the size of the gun. When hiding behind corners, having a rifle with a long barrel is a detriment because it will hit up against the wall. If players are shot in the legs, it disables their sprint and makes them move slower. If they’re shot in the arm, it ruins their aim. Takedown: Red Sabre also features a peak and lean system that works more realistically than a cover-based system.

As for jumping, there is none. The only thing that affects movement is the heaviness of the body armor. Those with a lot of Kevlar will be better protected; they won’t go down with a one-hit kill. But the benefits are balanced by the inability to sprint and being noisy. That makes a huge difference in cooperative play when stealth is of the utmost importance.

On the six core maps that Serellan plans to ship with, players will encounter randomized enemies, so each match won’t play the same way. In addition, each level is built with multiplayer in mind. That means multiple choke points and several paths to each section of the map. The design is elaborate but purposeful. Places such as Antarctic research station and a corporate HQ building are built with rooms specific to their function. You won’t see a smooth stand in an icy wasteland. There are also night maps, where visibility is an issue and flashlights and night vision are a godsend.

BUILT FOR COMPETITION: Takedown: Red Sabre has an eye toward the tournament scene. Serellan has a number of modes that include Tango Hunt, where players have to kill all the terrorists on a map; adversarial objective-based missions ie. bombing a site on the map a la Counter-Strike; and last man standing. it also supports clans and four spectators so they can referee a match.

When it comes to newbies, Takedown: Red Sabre caters to them as well. There’s a Killhouse map that includes a shooting and grenade range. It’s also customizeable so players can do some labbing, testing out weapons and ammo. They can also try out tactics or use the user-generated modular stage for a gunfight.

This is a shooter that caters to a specific taste. It’s heavily weighted toward skill and group tactics. Improvement is based not on the level but how well you perform with mouse and keyboard. Takedown: Red Sabre is set for release in September on Steam and Xbox Live Arcade for $15.